Part 2 (1/2)

RICE m.u.f.fINS.

Sift together half a teaspoonful of salt, a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, and two cupfuls of flour. Add two well-beaten eggs to one cupful of sweet milk, and stir into the flour, with one teaspoonful of melted b.u.t.ter and one cupful of dry boiled rice. Beat thoroughly, and bake in b.u.t.tered pans for thirty-five minutes. Serve with maple syrup.

TURKEY SALAD.

Cut the cold turkey meat into dice and mix it with twice the quant.i.ty of diced celery and one cupful of broken walnut meats. Mix all well together and moisten with a good boiled dressing. Serve in a nest of bleached lettuce.

CHEESE b.a.l.l.s.

Roll rich pastry out very thin, cut it into circles with a small tumbler, put two teaspoonfuls of grated cheese in the center of each, add a dash of cayenne and a teaspoonful of finely chopped walnut meats, then draw the edges of the paste together over the cheese, pinching it well to form a little ball. Bake in a hot oven to a very pale brown.

Before serving reheat in the oven.

STRAWBERRY TRIFLE.

Cut one large stale sponge cake in horizontal slices the whole length of the loaf. They should be half an inch thick. Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff snow, divide it into two portions; into one stir two level tablespoons of powdered sugar and one-half of a grated cocoanut; into the other stir the same amount of powdered sugar and one-half pound of sweet almonds blanched and pounded. Spread the slices of cake with these mixtures, half with the cocoanut and half with the almond, and replace them in their original form. The top crust should be cut off before slicing the cake as it is used for a lid. Hold the sliced cake firmly together and with a sharp knife cut down deep enough to leave only an inch at the bottom, and take out the center, leaving walls only one inch thick. Soak the part removed in a bowl with one cupful of rich custard flavored with lemon. Rub it to a smooth batter, then whip into it one cupful of cream which has been whipped to a dry stiff froth. Fill the cavity of the cake with alternate layers of this mixture and very rich preserved strawberries. Then put on the lid and ice with a frosting made with the whites of three eggs, one heaping cupful of powdered sugar and the juice of one lemon. Spread it smoothly over the sides and top of the cake, and keep in a very cold place until time to serve. Then place it on a silver or crystal dish, and put alternate spoonfuls of the whipped cream mixture and preserved strawberries around the base.

MERINGUES FILLED WITH PRESERVED WALNUTS.

Beat the whites of six eggs to a stiff firm snow, stir into it three-fourths of a pound of powdered sugar, flavor with a little lemon or rose water, and continue to beat until very light. Then drop them from a spoon, a little more than an inch apart, on well b.u.t.tered paper, keeping them as nearly egg-shaped as possible. Place the paper on a half-inch board and bake in a slow oven until well dried out. Remove from the paper, sc.r.a.pe out the soft part from the underside, and before serving fill with preserved walnuts and stick each two together. The preserved walnuts are a very delicious sweet but one rarely met with.

CHAPTER III.

A CUBAN BREAKFAST.

The palm, of course, is the key note for decoration, as it is the characteristic plant of the tropics. But in order to be true to the scheme in mind, that is, to make your surroundings appear truly southern and create a local atmosphere, a marked difference should be made between the arrangement of our usual American interior and the room which aims at the imitation of a Cuban home. Light and air are most important, the factors _sine qua non_, and the scene of the _Almuerzo_ (breakfast) should not recall the hot house, the conservatory, nor the dimly lighted, heavily curtained apartment of our northern dwellings.

There should be s.p.a.ce, plenty of windows, the fewest possible hangings, and these light in weight and color.

For the mantel and table decorations dwarf palms are very effective, while larger ones of many varieties are appropriate for corners and other available places. Very pretty souvenirs can be made of small palm leaf fans. A Cuban landscape and the name of a guest are painted thereon, and tiny Cuban and American flags tied on the handle make a neat finish.

As most of the dishes served will be new to the guests, it is advisable to have at each place a menu card where they may see how the dishes are called, that they may not only relish them knowingly but remember their excellence.

The hour for breakfast is noon, although it may be taken as late as one o'clock.

Here is a typical breakfast which can be easily reproduced with the material at our command.

_Almuerzo_ _Olives_ _Aeles Sausage_ _Eggs in Revoltillo_ _Boiled Rice_ _Fried Plantains_ _Fish in Escabeche_ _New Potatoes_ _Tenderloin Steak_ _Lettuce Salad_ _Guava Paste and Fresh Cheese_ _Cocoanut Desert_ _Fruit_ _Coffee_

The olives should be served with cracked ice; the Aeles sausage (imported) in very thin slices.

EGGS IN REVOLTILLO.